Space is vast. Insanely vast. There are simply no words to describe how much nothing there is between all the things that are - well - something. Our planet is tiny speck compared to just our star system, which in turn is much less than that compared to the galaxy as a whole.

There are ways to get to other stars and planets, sure. But you'd be insane to fly there in this dimension. It would take nearly a lifetime and insane amounts of energy to do a roundtrip. That’s why for a long time, we thought we would remain in one place.

It changed when the pathway to another dimension was found. A place where the rules of the universe were different. Where distances were short, energy levels were beneficial and the timeflow was slower. Flipping there allowed us to visit other stars in days instead of tens of years. Even though what we could bring through was limited by the exponential increase of necessary energy that was attached to increasing ship size, it was the best way to travel.

We learned that like space wasn’t uniform with mass and energy, the other dimension wasn’t uniform in energy density either. There were places where leaving it was impossible. This meant that there were sizable sectors in this galaxy we could not go, because an impervious barrier blocked us from flipping out of the other dimension.

We tried so many times to get by it. We threw excessive amounts of energy into stabilizing the pathways. We made the smallest possible ships to maybe sneakily flip them through. We passed the barrier in our dimension by travelling for years and tried to go through it from within. All were impossible.

So when we slowly explored the galaxy around us, we mapped the barriers, continuing along their borders in our search for other worlds to settle on and other intelligent species to talk to. Eventually, we had found many friends we could teach to explore with us and together with their help found the galaxy to be quite limited, with most of it hidden behind those impervious barriers.

Still, the times were good and we were proud to understand so much about the universe.

Unfortunately, things changed two days ago. Because here I am, talking to a member of a species that claimed to have emanated from deep within a barred area.

My people sent me to talk to them, because I am a scientist and they cannot understand how this person and their spaceship were able to get here. I had barely time to prepare though while being sent to this fringe station, so the stack of papers in front of me that holds a summary of events so far I’ve only skimmed through for the larger part.

With the system that was hastily set up, we are communicating with the newcomer through computer devices. Which is fine, because they have to sit behind glass in a different atmosphere and the sounds they would be able to make were mostly not within the range of my hearing anyway.

So I’ve got a digital voice talking to me, and they have a device talking to them. It just adds some latency, but it seems to otherwise work - except for the parts of either language that are incompatible I guess.

“Hey there. You’re new”, the digital voice says. The newcomer is waving one of their limbs side to side.

“Yes, I was asked to speak to you”, I reply.

“Sure, okay.”

I shuffled through the papers. There are details noted about their ship - a tiny vessel, barely large enough for an orbital trip and with very limited life support systems. Strangely though, it was found in deep space, very far away from any star.

“Can you tell me how you had made those gravitonic pulse signals with the vessel we had found you in?”

“You mean the emergency pulse? It’s just a tiny [untranslatable] device. One-time use only. And unfortunately, by the time you guys had found me, I had used all six of them.”

“Could you elaborate on that device? How does it work?”

“I’m not too sure? Basically it just detonates some [untranslatable] and funnels the resulting [untranslatable] into subspace, where [untranslatable] then creates a pulse in this dimension.

“We accidentally created one some time ago and now we are making them to use as homing beacons. They’re a handy and compact way to create a signal that has a range of a couple light years without a large delay. That’s what you picked up, yeah?”

While they talked, they had been waving their upper appendages around in somewhat repeating patterns. Was it part of their communication?

I brought one paper to the front - the one I had actually read not only thoroughly, but several times.

“Let’s get back to that later. You said before that your vessel is an emergency pod, correct?”

“Yeah.”

“And the ship you have actually travelled through the barrier with, where is that?”

They sat back as they were talking.

“Look, I’ve told you guys, it’s probably a cloud of matter spread around ten-thousands of [untranslatable] of space. The ship was experimental and the experiment failed.”

“And your emergency pod did not fail?”

“Well, yes and no. It was supposed to unlink from the ship and shift back into this dimension in case of catastrophic failure. At least that’s what happened the other times; the pod just [untranslatable] after unlinking and comes right back.

You get jumped to some random location along the border usually, but - well - that’s what the emergency pulse is for.”

“So you don’t actually know how to get through the barrier?”

“I don’t quite understand how I squeezed through, no. It’s never happened before and I’m pretty much stranded.”

“But you did traverse it in the other dimension? The barrier, I mean.”

“Sure I do. I showed you where I’m from - well, I showed those other guys. Did they tell you about the plaque?”

They cross their upper appendages in front of their chest. A sign of defiance?

“I know I’m not in [untranslatable] anymore.”

To elaborate - I did see the plaque, it is a little gold plate with an etched cartography system based on pulsars. It cleverly told us without much information where that species’ origin star system would be. And of course it was right within that close by barrier - a particularly small one that was just a few hundred lightyears across, but nonetheless not a place where we had ever gone.

The newcomer had also already volunteered plenty of information about that system as well, down to the specific characteristics of the planets therein. Apparently their home world is mostly water surface and has a curiously large moon nearly a quarter of its size. I cannot imagine the gravitational mayhem that would be going on there.

“Let me turn this around a bit. I’m sorry if I am chewing through the same questions you have been asked before. As a dimensional pathway physicist, I am immensely curious how you have managed to succeed in doing something that was never done before.

“With that, I mean crossing the dimensional energy barrier that covers the area of space you are from. It is incredible and I want - no, I need to understand how you did it.”

I pushed the papers to the side and gave my full attention to the being behind the glass.

“I’ve understood that we cannot translate your name. But maybe you can tell me some fitting word I can use to address you.”

“[untranslatable], you’re a scientist too? Maybe you can understand what I am talking about then, because your friends sure as [untranslatable] didn’t.

“And, well - I guess you can call me ‘Pioneer’.”

“Hello Pioneer. You can call me ‘Scholar’.”

“Nice. This is turning into the most pleasant interaction I had so far. Scholar, you’re a swell guy - or are you actually [untranslatable]?”

“I don’t understand everything you say. I am sorry, I can’t answer that question.”

They did a small wave with one of their hands, seemingly shooing some imaginary thing away.

“Ah, nevermind. So let’s get back to science talk. I’ve first got a question for you - how do you do faster than light travel? No one wanted to explain to me.”

“We are using pathway generators that create a cross-dimensional disturbance by collapsing a nanoscale matter grid through a forced fusion event which nullifies the matter. The grid shape depends on the location in space where the disturbance is introduced and needs to be finely calibrated.

“The disturbance is immediately stabilized by an intense electromagnetic energy field- this then creates the pathway to the other dimension. We call traversing the pathway ‘flipping’. There it is possible to quickly travel to the location we desire with a simple gravitonic energy expulsion drive.”

“And how do you get back?”

“We are using the same mechanism to create a pathway. Though to flip to this dimension, there is no need to tune the nanoscale grid. Only the amount of mass is relevant.”

“So where - what you call - barriers are, you can’t create that disturbance that’s needed for the pathway, right? That is - neither to nor from the other dimension.”

“Yes, that’s exactly the problem. We’ve tried using different grid shapes, increasing the mass, increasing the field energy, even downsizing the ships themselves to the point where they were nothing more than an enclosed seat mounted to a pathway generator.”

Now they were drumming their manipulators onto the desk in front of them. I could feel the vibrations through the divider in my own desk.

“You went down in size?”

“Of course. There is an exponential increase in energy needed to open the pathway large enough to accommodate more sizable ships. Mathematically, at some point it just becomes impossible to create a working pathway.”

More drumming.

“That’s [untranslatable] interesting. Because we have a different issue with traversing dimensions. The energy requirement to create the initial disturbance is immense. We have to use a fusion event that transforms at least [untranslatable] of matter into energy to make a dent.”

“I am sorry, I did not understand the amount. Could you roughly compare it to your own mass?”

“Sure. I guess it’s around a third of my weight- mass, I mean.”

Absolutely impossible. This has to be a misunderstanding.

“No, I am talking about the mass you need to transform. Please tell me the equivalent of that.”

“That’s what I meant. It’s [untranslatable], which is close to a third of my mass.”

I sat stunned into silence. The energy released by such an event would be immense - probably enough to wipe clean half the surface of a whole planet and raze the rest through the aftereffects. I could not imagine a way to initiate a fusion process of this magnitude on the largest orbital installations I knew, nevermind on a spaceship.

“Converting that much mass into energy would obliterate your ship and anything close to it.”

“Well, yeah - if it was uncontained, it totally would. We use magnetic field generators and physical shielding to control the unfolding energy and funnel it towards creating a disturbance.”

“But the energy requirements for that would be impossibly high as well. And physical containment - your ship would have to be immensely large, with massive internal armor. How does that work then?”

Pioneer was doing the appendage-crossing thing again. But I just have to question those things they are telling me, because even if they somehow made a spaceship that could initiate the pathway this way, there was just no way of then creating one big enough to get that ship through afterwards.

“I told your friends what my ship looked like. They did not [untranslatable] believe me in the slightest. Scholar, I’d have hoped as a scientist you’d understand.”

My device beeps because a message has just come in. It cannot be more important than this conversation, so I push it off.

“I am sorry, but your claims are incredible. This is so far outside the scope of our own faster than light travel method that it seems utterly impossible. And your ship would probably need to be the size of this space station to contain enough physical shielding to withstand a fusion event of that magnitude.”

“From what I’ve seen of this place, my ship is - sorry, was - definitely bigger than that. Just the length was [untranslatable].”

“Pioneer, what you are saying does not make any sense. How could you bypass the size limits of the pathway? Your emergency pod is already around an eight of the size of the transport ship I had used to come here.

“Beyond this maximum size we are using commonly, a ship would have more power plants and energy generators than cargo capacity, and at some point there is just no way to create the necessary field strength to uphold a pathway large enough.”

“You’re not seeing the obvious solution to that problem.”

My device beeps again because of an incoming message, but I - of course - ignore it still.

“Which is?”

“More energy from fusion. Besides the fusion generator used to create the disturbance, there were four other ones on my ship to deal with the energy requirements.”

Another beep.

“Four generators? Even if your ship was that large, there would be next to no space for cargo left after adding all that.”

“Yeah, true. It was a one-seater. But to be fair, it was an experimental ship. It was only supposed to bring me through the barrier and then back. Hence why I’m stranded now, there isn’t another like it.”

Beep, beep, beep. Unnerving. I quickly touch the appropriate buttons to finally silence it.

“You ok there?”

“Nevermind that, I am sorry for the distraction. Can you tell me what went wrong, before you had to leave your ship?”

“Oh. Yeah, sure. I was in the process of piercing back into this dimension, but there was a massive energy feedback that looked like it would run away into a resonance cascade. I then pushed the red button before I would disintegrate with my ship. Wasn’t the first time.”

“You mean you ‘unlinked’ your emergency pod?”

“Exactly.”

“But you came out here, on our side of the barrier. With your pod, I mean.”

“Yeah, that was weird.”

A hazy conclusion was slowly drawing itself out from somewhere in my mind.

“So, the energy requirements to create a disturbance in our space are far smaller and if you used the same amount you had used inside the barrier out here, it would be a massive excess of energy. An excess that could look like a dangerous feedback, if not accounted for.”

Pioneer was changing their seating position, now sitting straight upright. But they apparently had no words at this moment.

“Your pod. It cannot uphold a pathway itself, can it? But, if the disturbance was intense enough and the craft was small enough, it could pass the disturbance without stabilizing the pathway and flip back into this dimension.”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“I would wager that your ship did not fail - otherwise you couldn’t have come to this side. And it’s likely not destroyed either.”

Surprisingly, they sprang to their feet in a quick motion.

“Then let’s go [untranslatable] looking for it.”

“I’m sorry Pioneer. Please understand, if no one is on your ship to actively engage a flip, it will be drifting the other dimension forever.”

“No, you have to understand-”

The door behind me snapps open and several people noisily enter at once, drowning out the rest of the digitally voiced translation of Pioneer’s words and forcing me to twist around.

“Professor Flor! Why aren’t you answering your calls?”, the project overseer questioned me in a tone that made me think he had just been dumped into ice water.

“I was speaking to Pioneer- sorry, the newcomer. What is going on?”

“There was an unidentified ship sighted in system Triagela Nine. It must have flipped into this dimension some time yesterday. But - it is impossibly large and not one of ours! I need to question the newcomer at once.”

Keeping as calm as possible, I ask: “Would you say it’s about twice as long as this station and has an unnervingly large energy output?”

“That’s- you’re correct. How did you know? What did the newcomer tell you?”

I turn back deliberately slowly. Triagela Nine - I don’t know exactly where it is, but it is in another sector, which itself is some ten-thousand light years away from here in another arm of the galaxy. This would mean that this ship had made the journey from here all the way there in less than two days.

When I finally lock eyes with Pioneer, they are waving one of their appendages again.

“What were you saying just before, Pioneer?”

“Oh, I said that those jump processes are mostly automated and I had already started the return to this dimension. So it should be somewhere close.”

“Well, yes and no. I would say, the good news is that you are probably not stranded for too long.”